


hypothesis vs theory

by aetherae



Category: Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard
Genre: (kind of), (mostly), During Canon, F/F, Pining, imma be real wit u chief ihni how to tag things ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-15 00:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15400623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherae/pseuds/aetherae
Summary: Accord has a secret.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Misty_Reeyus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/gifts).



> first of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIST!!! HERE'S YOUR ACTUAL BDAY GIFT FOR THIS YEAR LMAO. THIS IS 100% FOR YOU, I LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR!!!!!
> 
> but as for the fic: so i tried to do accord/zero which admittedly i'm not HUGELY into but mist is and i felt i could make it work for me from this angle. tbh though, i'm not sure if this is accord/zero so much as it is a character study for zero from accord's pov LMFAO. this also takes some liberties and assumptions with how the accord model(s) work but frankly we just don't know jack shit about them in the first place LMFAO. man though mfw this is like. as g-rated as i feel drakengard could possibly be but i rated it t because there's no way to get around mentioning grotesque murder when it comes to drakengard, smh.
> 
> ALL THAT SAID THOUGH, i hope you enjoy this! and once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIST!!

Accord sees Zero die more times than she can count. 

Sometimes, it’s with a blade skewered through her. Or a chakram, or a fist, or a dragon claw. Once, she saw Gabriel decapitate the intoner with a single bite. Another time, she watched as poison melted her down into nothing but a pile of goo.

Other times, it’s not her body that goes first. It’s better if it is, Accord realizes as she seals branch after branch, like snipping and grooming a tree into proper form. (As if history had a proper form in the first place, but that’s not her place to question.) No, more often than not, Zero’s mind dies before her body does. She’ll stumble through her own vomit, laugh wildly with tears streaming down her cheeks, giggling and spinning as if dancing through a field of flowers.

Those are the only times Accord ever sees Zero smile so widely, light-hearted and carefree. Only when the world is doomed to a chaotic and horrific end, her mind so far-gone that she doesn’t even realize, can Zero smile so easily.

Accord is a Recorder. An android, a tool built by humans to correct their history. She was made to rectify the disasters of the past and set humanity towards a brighter future—nothing more, and nothing less. Putting aside that she even _has_ feelings, (much to the displeasure of her makers, she’s sure) her feelings on the matter are inconsequential. Unnecessary. Absolutely, entirely needless.

Recorders do not intervene. They do not interfere. But with so many sealed and dead branches, she thinks it’s high time these people had some help. Try as they might, and _oh_ does she know how they try, they simply can’t solve the problem on their own. A little nudge in the right direction certainly couldn’t hurt, right? If her priority is to save humanity’s future by starting with their past, she’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen, breaking the rules included.

She doesn’t pay attention to the smile that curves her lips when she latches her suitcase shut, doesn’t think about the spring in her sashaying step.

If she manages to see Zero smile on her own, without parasite-induced madness? Well, that’ll just be a bonus to saving the timeline.

Accord might be a Recorder, but she’ll just keep that little wish to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s easy to rile Zero up, Accord realizes. Smile, not so much, but she’s spent enough time observing and studying the intoner to discern one angry glare from the other, knows that most of her scowls don’t carry half the heat it looks like it has.

In some ways, she thinks she understands Zero’s moods better than Zero herself.

Zero’s never happy to see her. Zero’s never happy to see anything aside from her sisters dead and done with—at least, Accord’s sure that’s what she’d say. In truth, for as much as murdering the other intoners is Zero’s goal, killing them rarely brings her any true joy. Relief, maybe, that she’s one step closer to the end, but not joy. Not happiness. No, that sort of contentment seems to be reserved for the dragon Mikhail and Mikhail alone.

Not that he notices it. Zero never seems to notice it either, but it’s Accord’s job to observe, to monitor and examine every minute detail she sees. Mikhail’s too young to realize, has too little experience to notice the way Zero relaxes when he’s nearby, whether in fight or at camp. Her guard drops, her shoulders lose some of their tension, and for all the angry bite in her tone, there’s none of her bitterness. Zero doesn’t see it either. She might reach and call out for Michael in her sleep, but even with her relentless focus on her goal, if Mikhail is by her side that restlessness is nowhere to be found.

It’s cute, Accord thinks. Zero’s irritation towards her is almost just as cute.

Of course she wants all the answers Accord has to offer, but she can’t just actually _give_ those to her. For one, her interfering via speaking to Zero directly is dangerous enough; telling her anything vital would be sure to get her removed from overseeing this time. It’s also far more fun to see the monstrous, peerless intoner literally leap and jump at her near beck and call for answers.

But riling her up has its own way of relaxing her, too. For as much as the intoner might want to truly kill her, chasing after her expends Zero’s energy differently than when she runs into slaughter after slaughter. Her brow’s always furrowed when she sees her, and Accord’s sure her metal frame would be crushed into scraps if Zero ever actually got her hands on her, but her annoyance with her comes as quickly as it goes. Her temper flares up then fades out, and even if Zero would never let her guard down around the random interloper who pops in whenever she pleases, Accord knows it leaves her more well-rested than she’d ever say. More than she'd ever realize, frankly.

Zero’s angry shouts at her may not be a smile, but she knows it’s as close as she’ll ever get. Truthfully, she doesn’t know _what_ could get Zero to give a real smile. Pruning a successful branch even without her little hobby is hard enough as it is, and Accord is smart enough to know when to take what she can get.

It’s close enough to what she wants, and isn’t that all she’s trying for in the first place?

(And in the end, with her body half-vaporized and broken, she finds what she was looking for anyways.

Zero smiles up at Mikhail, beautifully and brilliantly, from the bottom of her heart.

It’s even lovelier than she thought it would be.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i could've had this as just a separated section rather than a separate chapter, but i felt like it was more appropriate to split them? the first chapter could be read as a standalone piece, and this chapter to me feels more like a sequel rather than a necessary continuation, so! that's my explanation for that lol


End file.
